The Ugly Impact Of Losing At Home To Tennessee

Well, that sucked a lot. Kentucky lost to the Vols in Lexington, and it was never really a game. Tennessee hit a 3-pointer 12 seconds after tip-off, and Kentucky never caught back up from there, trailing for 39 minutes and 48 seconds of the biggest home game on the schedule. I hope the legends up in the rafters covered their eyes as a very rowdy Rupp Arena wasn’t enough for Kentucky to hold a single lead in a rivalry game.

Looking at the big picture, losing to the Vols came with some serious implications, beginning with a likely elimination from the SEC’s regular-season race. Kentucky has won the league once since 2017.

T-5th in the SEC Standings

At the halfway point in SEC play, Kentucky is in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference it once ruled. The Wildcats lost four of the first nine games, including two at home this week alone. Looking up, the four teams ahead of Kentucky won on Saturday, leaving the Wildcats in a tie with Florida and Ole Miss at 5-4 in league play. LSU and Texas A&M also have four losses but have played one fewer game.

	CONF	OVERALL
Alabama	8-1	16-6
South Carolina	7-2	19-3
Auburn	7-2	18-4
Tennessee	6-2	16-5
Ole Miss	5-4	18-4
Kentucky	5-4	15-6
Florida	5-4	15-7
Texas A&M	4-4	13-8
LSU	4-4	12-9
Georgia	4-5	14-8
Mississippi State	3-6	14-8
Arkansas	2-7	11-11
Vanderbilt	1-7	6-15
Missouri	0-9	8-14

Here are the latest odds to win the SEC, an unlikely goal to reach at this stage. Kentucky is 45-1.

Alabama	+140
Tennessee	+200
Auburn	+220
South Carolina	+1500
Kentucky	+4500
Florida	+7500

Thursday of the SEC Tournament is in play

If Kentucky can’t climb out of fifth in the SEC race, the Wildcats will find themselves playing on Thursday in the SEC Tournament. It feels weird putting that sentence on the internet. Kentucky might play on Thursday in the SEC Tournament. Thursday. Of the SEC Tournament. Kentucky.

KenPom thinks Kentucky finishes at 10-8 in the SEC. That would be horrible.

NCAA Tournament resume implications

The Wildcats are running out of time to build a tournament resume. Tennessee at home was a huge opportunity to win a Quad 1 game, but the loss dropped UK to 2-4 in the high-profile matchups and out of the top 25 in the NET Rankings. We’ll see where Kentucky lands there in the morning.

In Bracketology, Joe Lunardi dropped Kentucky from the No. 4 seed line following the loss.

CORREX Florida pic.twitter.com/ARh7itdK3l

— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 4, 2024

Back-to-back losses at Rupp

1989. 2006. 2009. 2020. 2021. 2024. Those are the only six years Kentucky lost back-to-back games in Rupp Arena. When Gonzaga comes to town next Saturday, Kentucky will need to win that one or Rupp Arena will see its first three-game losing streak in its nearly 50-year history.

Tennessee made history

Any loss to Tennessee hurts, but this one set some records. First, the 11-point deficit tied Tennessee’s biggest win in Lexington.

Tennessee ties their largest margin of victory against Kentucky at Rupp Arena (11 points) (also done on January 20th, 1979 and February 6th, 2021)

— Corey Price (@coreyp08) February 4, 2024

And the 103 points allowed? The most Tennessee ever scored in Lexington and the fifth-most allowed by any team in school history. Tennessee’s leading scorer had his lowest outing of conference play, missing his average by 12 points.

Tennessee bragging rights

We all know a Vols fan, unfortunately, and they’re not going to shut up about this.